The Cave of Twisted Secrets
by MethuselahPixie
Summary: Katara was captured and thrown into the cave of crystals with Zuko, right? Well you've never seen it like this before... Romance. Drabble. Read/comment please!
1. Chapter 1

Drabble Time! KataraxZuko. Don't like, don't read please~

_The placement of the characters is more than most likely off. I just remembered seeing this episode and sat in a car for seven hours writing it. My apologies if specific details are wrong._

Fighting.

Left and right the came the fire benders. The blast in the chest hit her like a steam train, and she staggered backwards, losing her balance.

She hit the floor hard, her vision spinning. The rough hands grabbed her. Something heavy swung down hard on her head.

Her world went black.

The water bender wakes; being escorted into the fortress, rolling her eyes to confirm her fears. Groggily taking in her surroundings, she felt the bump rise of her forehead. Guards at every door and cold concrete floors they dragged her across.

Lovely, she thinks.

Of course her cell won't be padded, but, hey, she wasn't exactly a guest here. She groaned inwardly as they turned down a dark corridor made of stone.

They were throwing her in a dungeon?

Zuko sat with his back to the florescent blue crystal walls, gazing at the low ceiling. He couldn't think. Couldn't feel. Couldn't move. His head was a giant blur.

He had been separated from his uncle in this god forsaken place, and barely had enough brain power left to worry for the only person who had stuck by him in his banishment.

I'm so terrible, he thought weakly, closing his eyes. I don't deserve to be safe, down here, when he's probably being tortured. Uncle…

Katara's eyes jerked up as they approached a round door built at an angle into the ground. It looked dangerously air-tight, and she wondered briefly if they were going to suffocate her for torture in there.

No such luck.

She watched the door swing open and closed her eyes against the blue glow, tensing for the throw, and it came surely, swiftly. She had an acute sense of falling, but surprisingly, she didn't hit the floor as hard as she'd predicted.

It felt almost like she'd hit someone… instead of something.

Two arms encircled her and her cheek met a solid shoulder, eyes blurring the room, then focusing - with effort – on her savior.

Her gaze met his and locked.

Shocked, she stared up at him. "Zuko?!" She blurted, senses sharpening into alarm mode.


	2. Chapter 2

The door rolled closed behind her and she scrambled out of his grasp, Zuko practically wilting against the wall to keep from being kicked in the face.

She glanced back at him, to make sure he wasn't sending a fireball her way, but he was just sitting there. His amber eyes were unreadable, though they were tinged with something new; odd.

"Katara," he responded coolly, crossing his legs and resting his hands on his knees. To him, she looked confused, obviously, and was searching for a way out of the small cave.

"Where are we?" She demanded, pacing nervously after failing to find an alternative exit. She almost had to duck, the ceiling was so low.

Zuko shrugged, to her exasperation, "No idea. I was knocked out too."

Katara kept pacing. She was starting to make him dizzy. "Why did you catch me?" She shot at him sharply.

He looked up at her, "Why? Would you had rather me let you roll around on the floor? I thought you were unconscious." That explained the way he'd caught and held her. "I don't want anyone getting hurt," he added. "I'm not heartless."

Katara frowned at him, ceasing her anxious pacing. "Did you know it was me?" Her tone had softened.

Zuko hesitated. "No. Not until…"

Awkward silence.

Katara waved her hand in the air, blushing, "Ok, ok, thanks for catching me." She paused. "Wait, why are you in here? I thought you were, with Azula…?"

Zuko's eyes hardened. "Back when I freed Aapa, do you remember I said I'd changed?"

She nodded, scowling. The drill incident was still fresh in her memory.

"I had." He said quietly, noticing her scorn. "I had to stall you at the drill to gain her trust. I tried to get inside her plans, try to find some way to shut her down, but… she found me out. I've been here ever since." He sighed.

"I really thought I could do something to help," he said, after awhile. "but all I did was lose my uncle, the only person who stuck by my side, even after my banishment. God, I hope he's all right…"


	3. Chapter 3

Katara crossed her arms, studying him for a lie. She found none. "All this time you were trying to help us?"

He stared at his lap. "Restoring my honor before my father is impossible," he touched the scar over his left eye gingerly. "I knew that and yet I still…"

She felt her heart ache for him.

"I couldn't… I'm sorry." He continued. "I should have given up that hope long ago."

Katara slid down on the opposite side of the cave, hands around her knees, "It's not your fault, Zuko." She admitted. "Any prince with a father like yours wouldn't have done it any differently. I'm sorry for being so snappy."

He cracked a smile, lifting his laughing eyes to hers, making her blink, "You deserve a bit of snapping after all you've been through."

Her faded blush returned to it's former luster as he chuckled, leaning back against his wall. He bent one leg even with his chest and stretched out the other.

It practically touched her shoes. He'd gotten taller since they'd first fought. Had it really been so long ago? "At least we've got something to look at."

Katara looked around the cave. Not noticing his gaze not wavering from her face, "What is this stone?"

Zuko followed her eyes then, shrugging again. "It's completely fireproof. That's all the knowledge I've gathered."

Katara watched him look around the cave, imagining him throwing a tantrum in here out of frustration and having a breakdown. It wasn't hard, surprisingly; she'd seen him mad plenty of times, though she'd never seen his tears. She didn't think she ever would.

She didn't realize she was staring at him until his eyes came back from the walls and met hers again.

Zuko tilted his head a bit at her, "What's the matter?" He asked. She noticed his scruffy bangs fell over his eyes with his head at that angle.

Katara looked down at her hands around her knees, a flush staining her cheeks. "I was just thinking." She sighed. "So we're trapped in here, huh?"

Zuko nodded sheepishly, "Completely. No way out, accept the obvious fire bender-strewn path, of course." He said this so blandly, so nonchalantly, she had to giggle.

So odd, she thought with a smile.

Katara smothered a yawn, but not fast enough to hide it from him. Her blush spread over her face as she cursed inwardly, his eyes flickering across her face.

"Tired much?" He smiled. "Too much fighting for justice, I think."

Katara eyed him. "You won't be like, taken away while I'm asleep, will you?"

Zuko found it amusing that when she was trapped as a prisoner of the fire nation in a sealed cave with strange glowing stones with a guy like him, she wasn't worried about herself.

"No," he chuckled softly. "I'm safe for now. Azula isn't in the mood for killing me until she's queen of the world. Sleep."

As she nodded and turned her head against the wall to do just that, Zuko noticed the ruby color of her cheeks.


	4. Chapter 4

Zuko had always fallen asleep and awaken to the same light during his imprisonment, sleep being his own way of knowing nigh from day. But that night was a lighter, easier sleep – a sleep drained of guilt, of hurt. It was very strange to him, but he welcomed the cocoon of darkness behind his eyelids gratefully.

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They both woke sleepily to the door creaking open.

"Breakfast, swine," barked a gruff voice, and a pair of boxes were tossed into the cave.

Zuko caught his and Katara's, saving her sleepy face from being filled with cardboard. He handed hers to her, shaking his head. "Not exactly ladies men here. Sorry about that."

As the laughter died from behind the door Katara rubbed sleep from her eyes and smiled at him softly, making his chest flutter. "Thanks. You've turned out to be quite the protector, Zuko."

"I suppose I have," he mumbled. "what have I become?" He added teasingly, eyes on his box.

As he glanced up with a crooked smile she giggled again. The boxes were opened. They munched on the dumplings and apples for a bit, but Katara set her box aside without finishing it off.

She noticed a pile of boxes in the corner. Must be from past meals. When she tried to count them, though, she realized she hadn't thought about the others since her arrival. She let her counting finger fall guiltily.

"Zuko?" He looked up as she turned her eyes back on him. "Aang and my brother will be all right, won't they?"

Zuko crossed his legs, furrowing his brow. "They're heros, right? Not super heros, of course, but they've run into tougher stuff before, right?" He smiled and she returned it. "I bet they're wondering the same about you right now."

Katara watched him get up with wide blue eyes, and blinked as he slipped down to sit beside her. "Thank you," she said as he settled at her side. "I don't know what I'd do in this place without you."

She let her eyes wander over his face. The silence stretched.

He felt her gaze, turning his head to meet it. "Sure you wanna be so reliant on me? I _was _a criminal for a long time." A smile crept onto his lips as she leaned her cheek on her knee, leaning his elbows on his bent knees.

Katara rolled her eyes good-naturedly, "Not anymore. It's weird, but it's like I know you won't go bad again. You've been through too much, and you've chosen your path. You get sick of it?"

Zuko nodded, "Sick of being the bad guy."

Katara smiled. "See? Exactly."

Zuko leaned his head back against the wall, smiling as well, "So I'm a pansy good guy now, am I?"

Katara smiled and lifted her head, leaning on his shoulder instead, "One of the crew," she said in a sing-song voice. They laughed, the echoes bouncing off the walls making their intertwined closeness seem much more knitted.


	5. Chapter 5

"I'm still worried about Aang, but it's a different worry than Sokka," Katara admitted. "I always will be worried, but it's strange. Have you ever worried like that?" She closed her eyes, his shoulder a warm and sturdy support.

Zuko leaned his cheek in her hair, "Only once. There was a girl in Ba Sing Se not long ago who came to the tea shop my uncle owned. I liked her a lot, and we spent quite a bit of time together, but I haven't seen her since the drill hit."

She snuggled up to him. "What did you worry about her?" She asked.

"I worried," he began. "that she didn't like my attitude, how I treated people; I worried if she really liked me at all, or if she just felt sorry for me, but she proved once that she did like me." Zuko felt the ache in his chest for that girl's company dulled currently. "I worried about her health and her life, too. Pointless things, but they meant a lot to me, because her happiness meant a lot to me."

Katara smiled, eyes closed, "That's so sweet. A girlfriend?"

Zuko chuckled, "Something like that. I don't know if I'll ever see her again, though."

She felt his arm around her shoulders and curled her hands into her lap. "You could always go back. I bet she misses you."

He sighed. "Maybe. I miss her sometimes. A lot, actually."

She looked up at him with content blue eyes. "You should. She might like you more than you think."

He looked down at her, and she felt his bangs tickle her forehead, "When I get out, I'll try. Until then I have you."

She felt blood rush to her face again and locked her eyes on his as if she'd drown in them.

His heart pounded in his ears. They probably shouldn't be so disloyal, but this place was pressing in on them. Both of them needed comfort right now. Any kind of comfort.

She felt the heat in her face grow as he drew closer, and felt his strong hand on the back of her neck. His breath smelled like apples as it washed over her face.

Neither thought, then. They just felt.

The first kiss was gentle; soft, as tender as a first kiss should be. Their lips touched briefly and held for barely a moment. A shy gasp. From which, it was unclear.

The second was warmer. Lips parted, the kiss deepened – molding, moving, merging together, tongues dancing in a blissful tango of intimacy.

Katara found handfuls of his shirt clutched in her fingers, hunching her shoulders to make herself smaller against him. He seemed to grow in height and power suddenly. He loomed over her, his warmth and her own joining.

She tilted her head back as his lips traveled down her neck. Her lashes fluttered over hot cheeks as his hand traveled down to hold the small of her back.


	6. Final Chapter

Morning. Kataras hands rested on his chest, and his arm anchored around her, the pair of them curled around each other on the cold floor, dead asleep.

Zuko woke first, in preparation for the guards, and found his hair and clothes disheveled. He smiled and ran his free hand through his bed head, smoothing the other down her curves.

God, she looked like an angel, asleep like this.

Her braid was completely undone. He kissed the top of her head to wake her and smiled as her eyes cracked open.

Long brown hair cascading down her back, she lifted her head just slightly, "No chance in not moving, is there?" She asked sleepily.

Zuko chuckled but shook his head sadly. They would surely be punished severely if caught like this. He sighed as they sat up and returned to leaning against the wall, stretching and already missing the comfort of the other's arms.

The door opened just like yesterday.

Zuko caught their food once again and sat patiently as Katara went off on a water bending technique she had taught Aang, explaining as they picked at their breakfast.

Zuko listened intently, watching how graceful her hand motions were as she acted out the moves. A satchel still hung from her belt filled with healing water, and she was struck with an idea.

"Zuko," she said, eyes alight. "your scar; I can heal it with my water bending!"

He looked up in alarm, touching his scar again defensively. He frowned. "No. Thank you, Katara, but my scar is all I have left of my old life. I need it to remind me of the things I've done."

She smiled proudly. "I understand," she said, lacing her hand through his.

He smiled back at her, "I wish I could ask you to cure uncle's bad back, but I've no clue where he is."

Katara grinned. "Wanna find out?"

Zuko blinked. "What, like leave? How?"

Katara looked at the door, calculating in her head. "Here's what we're gonna do…"

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How was it? Pretty random, right? WOO mission accomplished… XD jkjk… hope you liked it haha~ It took up 82 notepads on my phone typing for seven hours.

Please, if you didn't enjoy it, don't tear me up about it. This was fun to work on, but details and things weren't corrected from my writing to their submission. Be understanding of the whim I've acted on, and thank you for reading my drabble.

I'm very grateful! Thank you all~!


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